SILVER LININGS –OR– WHY YOU ALL ARE SO DANG SPECIAL

Molly Rhode, Associate Artistic Director

Did you know that when we gather in the theater to have a shared experience as an audience, our heartbeats synchronize? It’s true. Isn’t that simply wonderful? It’s what I missed the most in the early part of last summer–not having the chance to laugh and cry with you, and to be in sync, in that awesome elevated state of community. But I was in for a surprise.

In pausing to reflect on all Northern Sky has accomplished since cancelling our 30th anniversary season, I’m kinda gobsmacked at how much connection we created anew. We’ve been hustling, brainstorming, inventing (and reinventing) for 14 straight months; and we’ve rarely taken the time to come up for air. By my count, we’ve had 58 distinct special events to offer our fans this past year. Fifty-eight! I couldn’t believe it. But it’s true.

3 Cabarets

(with Doug Clemons, Allie Babich, and Ray Jivoff)

2 Playlist Concerts

(hosted by Mary Seeberg and Doug Mancheski)

6 Archive Concerts

(Love Songs, Silly Songs, Lipstick Optional, Songs of Hope, Decade of Delight, and A December to Remember)

2 Author Events

(Trunk Songs, and The New Year with Northern Sky–featuring 21 of our beloved authors!)

4 Winter Season Concerts

(with Eric Lewis, Doc Heide, Claudia Russell & Bruce Kaplan, and Karen Mal & Will Taylor)

5 Reunion Events

(Lumberjacks in Love, Guys on Ice, Bone Dance, And If Elected, and Heritage Ensemble!) 1 Full Production Archive shared for the first time ever (Malarkey!: 1993 in the Park)

1 Lumberjack Car Wash

(I think Dirty Bob washed over 100 cars.)

26 Jeff & Katie Shows

(You read that right, 26! Featuring MORE than 26 special guests!)

5 Meetings of Play Club

(where we read Northern Lights, Our Night In Frog Station, Tongue ’n Cheek, The Passage and See Jane Vote. All over Zoom, of course.)

3 Huge Gala Events

(Raise the Curtain: Wherever You Are, Home for the Holidays: Wherever You Are, and Raise the Curtain: Take a Leap!)

And this list doesn’t even account for the over 250 videos uploaded to our YouTube Channel in the past year–videos made by our artists that were shared on social media and in our Northern Sky at Home email series.

I’m just gonna say it. I am REALLY stinkin’ proud of us. The year was crazy-pants. We all know it. But we were all in it together. And it felt SO GOOD to stay connected with you. We threw as much creativity as we could muster at a seemingly impossible task: how do you make theater when you can’t assemble an audience? Well, it turns out that a pretty good way forward is to have unflinchingly loyal fans who will follow you into the unknown without hesitation. You all did that for us. You made the critical difference. You tried any goofy thing we cooked up. You tuned in, you reached out, you let us know that what we were doing mattered to you. And the unexpected silver lining is that after a year of being apart, we’ve never felt more connected to you.

That same glorious silver lining we found with our audience also applied to our artist family. The reunions and special events enabled us to re-connect with artists from all generations of our organization. And while we kept plenty busy with the events listed above, we were also hard at work on new play development. We did 14 play readings this past year for eight brand new shows and even held our first-ever virtual workshop. Jeff and I also met with new writing teams that pitched us superb show ideas, and we launched our first-ever writing circle, in which artists are flexing their muscles and taking inspiration from each other. New works are alive and well! All this activity means we have worked with many more artists in the past year than we could usually engage in an average season.

All this connectivity, with both our audience and our artists, has both buoyed me and anchored me. That aspect of this pandemic experience has been pretty magical and utterly unexpected. I feel closer to my colleagues and more uplifted by our audience than I’d ever really envisioned as possible. I am immeasurably grateful.

Before closing, I must acknowledge the grit, gumption, and good faith of our board of directors. In a time of unprecedented uncertainty, they made the bold decision to keep our staff at full employment. Without our whole team in place, we never could have managed the extraordinary amount of activity and programming we offered since last spring. Thank you to those lovely, intrepid leaders. It was a gift to be able to continue creating new work in new ways, with artists I love, for fans that we love. Now, let’s get back together and synchronize our heartbeats.

Molly Rhode

Associate Artistic Director molly@northernskytheater.com